Spurs overcome messy start to claim 50-47 halftime lead

Danny Green scored 11 points and DeJuan Blair added nine to boost the Spurs to a 50-47 halftime lead over Portland Friday night.

It wasn’t pretty. The Spurs committed 14 turnovers that led to 17 Portland points in their sloppiest half of the season.

Even with those struggles, the Spurs ran off eight straight points late in the second quarter to reclaim the lead. Two foul shots from Danny Green pushed them to their largest lead at 49-41 with 2:51 left.

But Portland closed with a modest 6-1 run closed by a foul shot by Wesley Matthews to pull within 50-47 at the break.

The Spurs finished shooting 55.9 percent in the first half. And their defense did a much better job in the second quarter, limiting Portland to 27.3 percent in the second quarter.

The Spurs had their usual troubles with LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 16 points to lead all scorers. Matthews had 12 and Gerald Wallace added eight for the Trail Blazers, who are gunning for their ninth victory in the last 10 games against San Antonio.

The sloppiness for the Spurs started in the first quarter as they committed four turnovers in the first three minutes, including three from Duncan. The Spurs captain was whistled for two quick fouls in less than three minutes.

The Spurs had a season-worst 10 turnovers in the first quarter that led to 13 Portland points as the Trail Blazers shot 59.1 percent. The previous game high for them was 19.

Portland took control during a 9-2 run late in the first quarter capped by a three-point play by Wallace which gave them a 24-16 lead with 3:39 left in the quarter.

San Antonio closed with the final four points of the quarter to pull within 31-27 at the break.

The struggles detracted from their 64.7 percent from the field in the first quarter.

The Trail Blazers lost starting center Marcus Camby with 4:08 left in the second quarter when he appeared to turn his ankle. Camby hobbled to the locker room with no points and three rebounds in 13 minutes. His status is unknown for the rest of the game.